The qualifying competition for the 1994 World Cup finals in the U.S. was the highlight of association football in 1993. Among the early qualifiers for the 1994 finals were Greece, making its initial appearance in the finals, and Russia, for the first time as an independent nation. The others scheduled to play in their first World Cup finals were Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.

The growth of member countries in UEFA, the European soccer organization, continued with further additions from the eastern regions, bringing the total membership to 45 with two associate members. These two came from Czechoslovakia, the latest country to be divided on ethnic lines, as the Czech Republic and Slovakia. However, its national team continued for World Cup purposes as the RCS (Representation of Czechs and Slovaks).

At the club level the increase of 13 in the number of competing clubs provided an enlarged entry for both the Champions’ Cup and Cup-Winners’ Cup. The 1993-94 Champions’ Cup was contested by 42 clubs, while 43 entrants competed for the Cup-Winners’ Cup, and the usual 64 teams vied for the UEFA Cup. Among the new entries were clubs from Albania, Belarus, Croatia, and Moldova. Wales was represented for the first time in the Champions’ Cup. The formula for the Champions’ Cup again featured a league system for the last eight teams.

European Cup-Winners’ Cup

Parma of Italy achieved its first European prize with a well-merited 3-1 win over the Belgian club Antwerp, another first-time finalist, at Wembley on May 12. There was a noticeable clash of styles, with Parma’s attractive pattern-weaving proving more rewarding than Antwerp’s more direct methods. The Italians took the lead after nine minutes. Antwerp goalkeeper Stevan Stojanovic misjudged Luigi Apolloni’s corner kick, and the ball fell to Lorenzo Minotti, who volleyed into the roof of the rigging. The lead lasted two minutes before Daniele Zoratto’s clearance hit Alex Czerniatynski. He showed smart reflexes in channeling the ball through to Francis Severeyns, who shrugged off a challenge to hit a cross shot under goalkeeper Marco Ballotta. But at the half-hour mark, Parma restored its lead. Georges Grun found Marco Osio on the edge of the penalty area. He crossed for Alessandro Melli to head in at 2-1. After that, it was not until the 83rd minute that Parma added to its score. Grun delivered a high ball that beat the offside trap, and Stefano Cuoghi was able to commit Stojanovic before slipping the ball past him.

UEFA Cup

Juventus of Italy won its second UEFA Cup trophy in four years, easily overcoming Germany’s Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on aggregate scores. In Dortmund on May 5, the early exchanges gave little indication of the ultimate result. To the delight of most of the crowd, Michael Rummenigge put the Germans ahead after only two minutes. Thereafter, the Italians dominated. Dino Baggio tied the score in the 27th minute, and the unrelated Roberto Baggio, who was later named European Player of the Year, made it 2-1 four minutes later, then scored again after 74 minutes to win the match 3-1. In Turin two weeks later, Dino Baggio emulated his namesake with two goals, scoring in the fifth minute and five minutes before halftime. Andreas Moller added a third goal for Juventus in the 65th minute. Victory provided Juventus with its third UEFA Cup success, a record for the competition.

European Champions’ Cup

Marseille became the first French club to win one of the three major European trophies, beating AC Milan of Italy 1-0 on May 26 in Munich, Germany. The Italians could not complain about the result, having had chances to score before Marseille struck with two minutes remaining in the first half. Daniele Massaro, preferred to Jean-Pierre Papin of France in the Milan attack, wasted three openings before the crucial goal was scored. That took place when Abedi Pele took a corner on the right, swinging the ball into the goal area, where Basile Boli rose above the Milan defense to glance a header into the far corner of the net. Papin was brought off the substitute bench in the 54th minute, but the match was already falling away from Milan’s control. For Marseille coach Raymond Goethals it was a twilight achievement at the age of 72, but the celebration was short-lived. In the wake of serious bribery scandals, UEFA stripped Marseille of the European title and imposed a ban on entry for 1993-94. The team’s millionaire president, Bernard Tapie, sought Swiss court action and obtained reinstatement, but threats of further sanctions by UEFA and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) against French national and club teams forced him to drop the lawsuit. The French Federation subsequently suspended three players and a club official and declared the club’s national league title for 1992-93 void.

In Scotland the Rangers again were in dominating form, winning all three domestic trophies, including their 43rd league championship. In Poland, however, Legia Warsaw was deprived of its title when match-fixing allegations were proved against it. AC Milan had a season of contrasting fortune. After extending an unbeaten run in Italian league matches to 58, it suffered loss of confidence and a lengthy injury list. Its margin of championship success was reduced to just four points at the season’s end. Milan’s Gianluigi Lentini, the world’s most expensive signing of the previous year at £13 million, had the misfortune to suffer severe injuries in a car crash, though he was expected to make a full recovery and attempt a comeback. But all 18 members and five officials of the Zambian national team were wiped out in an airplane crash. (SeeDISASTERS.) Meanwhile, the U.K. saw the deaths of two former champions: Bobby Moore (see OBITUARIES), the national hero who led England to its only World Cup title, in 1966, and at year’s end Danny Blanchflower, who, in a 16-year playing career (1949-64), led Tottenham Hotspur to two FA Cups and a European Cup-Winners’ Cup, played for Northern Ireland in the 1958 World Cup, and was twice named Footballer of the Year.

African countries continued to improve, with Nigeria beating Ghana, the defending champions, 2-1 in the World Under-17 Cup in Japan. This tournament was used to try out the controversial kick-in as a replacement for the throw-in. It led to more direct assaults on goal but wasted time and did nothing to improve the quality of play. Japan launched its first professional league; heavily sponsored by major local companies, it included former international players from around the world. Drawn matches were eliminated, first by sudden-death overtime and then on penalty kicks if no winner emerged. The games drew sizable crowds.

North America

Prospects for a successful World Cup in 1994 were enhanced when the US ’93 Cup tournament drew a total of some 280,000 for its six matches. The largest crowd, 62,126, watched Germany beat England 2-1 in the first international ever to be played indoors on natural grass, at the Pontiac (Mich.) Silverdome in the Detroit suburbs. Within the U.S. the American Professional Soccer League carried on with seven teams, playing a 24-match schedule before the play-offs.

Latin America.

Qualifying for the 1994 World Cup tournament was the main concern in Latin America in 1993. Mexico was the first country to qualify, in May, after easily winning the classification tournament of the North American, Central American, and Caribbean Football Federation (Concacaf). Four months later Colombia surprised everyone and finished first in the South American Confederation’s group A after beating Argentina twice--once in Barranquilla (Colombia), 2-1, and once more in Buenos Aires with a humiliating score of 5-0. Brazil recovered from a shaky start and took first place in group B. Bolivia provided the biggest surprise by finishing second in group B and knocking out two-time world champion Uruguay to qualify. Argentina finally got its berth for the World Cup by edging Australia in a consolation round.

In spite of its troubles in the World Cup qualifying tournament, Argentina demonstrated in Ecuador in June that it remained a major soccer powerhouse when it won the America Cup for the 14th time (in 33 attempts). This tournament, played since 1916, opened its doors for the first time to teams outside South America as Mexico and the U.S. were invited to participate. The Argentines edged Mexico, the surprise team of the competition, 2-1 in the final match. Colombia took third place after defeating the Ecuadoran hosts 1-0.

Brazil’s São Paulo, however, continued to dominate club competition in Latin America. In May it successfully defended the Libertadores de América Cup after defeating Chile’s Universidad Católica in a two-game series (with scores of 5-1 and 0-2). On December 12, moreover, it beat AC Milan 2-1 in the Inter-Continental Cup. This made São Paulo the unofficial world club champion for the second year in a row.

In July Mexico took the Gold Cup, contested for by Concacaf’s national teams, by defeating the U.S. 4-0 in the championship game. Costa Rica’s Saprissa was the surprising winner of Concacaf’s club competition.

Rugby Football

Rugby Union

The 1992-93 season started with South Africa--eager to take part in as much international activity as possible after being banned from official international competition for eight years--making a tour of France and England in October and November 1992. The season ended with South Africa touring Australia in August 1993.

On the French section of the 1992 tour, the Springboks played nine matches, including two international contests against France. They won the first of the internationals 20-15 at Lyon but lost the second 29-16 in Paris. The English leg embraced four games, and the South Africans were well beaten 33-16 by England at Twickenham in the only international match.

At the same time of the year, the Australians toured Ireland and Wales, playing 13 matches altogether, including an international against each country. They defeated Ireland 42-17 in Dublin and Wales 23-6 at Cardiff. In accordance with the tradition of touring teams, they ended their tour by playing the Barbarians at Twickenham. They won that match 30-20.

The Five Nations Championship, played as always during the first three months of the new year, was won in 1993 by France even though they were beaten 16-15 by England, the favourites, at Twickenham in their first match. France went on to defeat Scotland 11-3 in Paris, Ireland 21-6 in Dublin, and Wales 26-10 in Paris. After their victory over the French, England lost 10-9 to Wales at Cardiff and 17-3 to Ireland in Dublin, but they beat Scotland 26-12 at Twickenham. Scotland started with a 15-3 win over Ireland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh and also defeated Wales 20-0 there. Ireland’s 19-14 victory over Wales at Cardiff meant that they shared second place with England and Scotland in the championship table. Wales finished alone in last place.

The main event of the year was the 13-match tour of New Zealand by the Lions (England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales combined) in May, June, and July 1993. The Lions, captained by Gavin Hastings, the Scotland fullback, won seven of their matches but were beaten 2-1 in the three-match test series. New Zealand won the first test narrowly 20-18 in Christchurch; the Lions won the second 20-7 in Wellington; and the All Blacks won the decisive third test 30-13 in Auckland. The New Zealanders went on to win the Bledisloe Cup--competed for between them and Australia--by defeating the Australians 25-10 at Dunedin.

France made a short tour of South Africa in June and July 1993 and won their two-match test series 1-0. They drew 20-20 with South Africa at Durban in the first test and won the second 18-17 in Johannesburg.

Rugby League

Great Britain and Australia reached the World Cup final, which was staged at Wembley, London, on Oct. 24, 1992. Australia won the final 10-6. In March 1993 Great Britain beat France 48-6 at Carcassonne. It was the most points the British had ever scored in a match on French soil. The following month at Leeds, they again defeated the French, this time 72-6, a world-record score for a full test match.

U.S. Football

College

Florida State University won the national championship of college football by defeating Nebraska 18–16 in the Orange Bowl at Miami, Fla., on Jan. 1, 1994. Florida State’s victory gave the Atlantic Coast Conference champions a won-lost record of 12–1. The Seminoles had a 5–1 record against teams ranked in the top 25 and became the fifth team since World War II to lead the country in both points scored and points allowed, with regular-season averages of 43.2 and 9.4, respectively.

The only undefeated team in Division I-A was Auburn (11–0), which was ineligible for a bowl game or the championship because it was on probation for having violated recruiting rules. The selection of the champion by writers’ and coaches’ ballots intensified the outcry for a play-off system because Notre Dame (11–1) was ranked second in spite of its 31–24 victory over Florida State on November 13. The Seminoles passed the Fighting Irish in the polls when Boston College beat Notre Dame the next week, and they stayed ahead when both teams won their bowl games, Notre Dame by 24–21 over Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl.

Third-ranked Nebraska (11–1) won the Big Eight. Auburn was ranked 4th in the writers’ poll but was not considered in the coaches’ poll, and so the teams ranked 4th through 10th in the coaches’ poll were ranked 5th through 11th by the writers. Big East winner West Virginia (11–1) was the only undefeated championship contender with Nebraska after the regular season but fell to sixth in the coaches’ poll after losing 41–7 to fourth-ranked Florida in the Sugar Bowl. Florida (11–2) won the Southeast Conference by defeating Alabama (8–3) in a play-off game.

Fifth-ranked Wisconsin (10–1–1) shared the Big Ten championship with number 10 Ohio State (10–1–1) and won the Rose Bowl 21–16 against Pacific Ten champion UCLA (8–4). The Big Ten also produced seventh-ranked Penn State (10–2), which won 31–13 over Tennessee (9–2–1) in the Citrus Bowl; it was coach Joe Paterno’s 15th bowl victory, tying him with Paul ("Bear") Bryant for the record. The eighth and ninth teams, respectively, were Southwest Conference winner Texas A&M (10–2) and Arizona (10–2).

Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward won the Heisman Memorial Trophy, the Maxwell Award, and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award—all honouring the best college football player in the U.S. Ward led the nation with the highest percentage of completions (64.5) and the lowest percentage of interceptions (1.05, with four). He also won both awards for the best quarterback, the Davey O’Brien Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

The outstanding lineman honours went to Outland Trophy winner Rob Waldrop, an Arizona nose tackle, and Vince Lombardi Award winner Aaron Taylor, a Notre Dame offensive tackle. Nebraska’s Trev Alberts won the Butkus Award for the best linebacker and Alabama’s Antonio Langham the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back. Texas Tech’s Byron Morris led the country with 22 touchdown runs and 12.18 points per game in winning the Doak Walker Award for the best running back.

Marshall Faulk of San Diego State led the nation with 144 points and 2,174 all-purpose yards but played in 12 games and lost the per-game titles to players with 11-game schedules. LeShon Johnson of Northern Illinois was the all-purpose leader with 189.3 yd per game and the rushing leader with a season total of 1,976 yd. Tennessee’s Charlie Garner had the best rushing average, 7.3 yd per carry. The team rushing leader, Army, gained 298.5 yd per game.

Nevada gained the most passing yards and total yards with per-game averages of 397.5 and 569.1, respectively. Nevada quarterback Chris Vargas’ totals of 4,265 yd passing, 34 touchdown passes, and 4,332 yd total offense all led the country, and teammate Bryan Reeves tied UCLA’s J.J. Stokes with 17 touchdown catches. The leading passer was Trent Dilfer of Fresno State, with his top-ranked average of 9.84 yd per attempt helping him accumulate the most efficiency points, 173.1. Tulsa’s Chris Penn was the leading receiver with both 105 catches and 1,578 yd. Ryan Yarborough of Wyoming had the best receiving average, 22.6 yd per catch.

Mississippi led in total defense with a yield of 234.5 yd per game. Arizona allowed only 30.1 yd per game and 0.9 yd per carry for the best rushing defense, and Texas A&M was the pass-defense leader with an efficiency rating of 74.99. Texas A&M also allowed the fewest touchdowns, 10, and had both individual kick-return leaders, Leeland McElroy with 39.3 yd per kickoff return and Aaron Glenn with 19.4 yd per punt return. Orlanda Thomas’ nine interceptions for Southwestern Louisiana led the country. UCLA recovered the most turnovers, 39, and Notre Dame’s 10 turnovers lost were the fewest.

Judd Davis of Florida won the Lou Groza Award for placekicking but finished behind Alabama’s Michael Proctor, with 22 field goals, and California’s Doug Brien, with an .833 percentage (15 for 18) on at least 1.5 tries per game. Chris MacInnis of Air Force led all punters with a 47.0-yd average.

Other division I-A conference champions were Southwestern Louisiana (8–3) in the Big West and Ball State (8–3–1) in the Mid-American. In the Western Athletic conference Fresno State (8–4), Wyoming (8–4), and Brigham Young (6–6) tied for first.

The undefeated teams in Division I-AA were Pennsylvania (10–0) of the Ivy League, Boston University (12–0) of the Yankee Conference, and independent Troy State (11–0–1). Other conference winners in the division for less ambitious programs were Southern (11–1) in the Southwestern Athletic, Howard (11–1) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic, Georgia Southern (10–2) in the Southern, Montana (10–2) in the Big Sky, McNeese State (10–2) in the Southland, and Dayton (9–1) in the Pioneer League.

Professional

The Dallas Cowboys became only the fifth defending Super Bowl champion in 14 years to win a division championship the next year in the National Football League (NFL) when they finished the 1993 regular season with a won-lost record of 12–4. The Cowboys had won the 1992 NFL championship by defeating the Buffalo Bills 52–17 in Super Bowl XXVII at Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 31, 1993.

Buffalo, the first team to lose three consecutive Super Bowls, threatened to go to a fourth by matching Dallas’ 1993 record, the NFL’s best. The Houston Oilers also finished 12–4 with a winning streak of 11 games, the NFL’s longest in 21 years, to gain first place in the Central Division of the American Conference (AFC). Buffalo and Dallas won the Eastern divisions of the AFC and National Conference (NFC), respectively. Kansas City won the AFC Western Division for the first time in 22 years, and Detroit won the NFC Central for the first time in 10 years. San Francisco in the NFC West was the only team besides Dallas to repeat as a division champion.

Detroit and the New York Giants improved their records by five games from 1992, the best gains in the league. Other teams making the play-offs in 1993 that had not done so in 1992 were Denver, the Los Angeles Raiders, and Green Bay, the latter for the first time since 1982. Minnesota and Pittsburgh joined the Giants, the Raiders, Denver, and Green Bay as wild-card teams, those with the three best runner-up records in each conference. Washington’s record dropped the farthest, five games. The other 1992 play-off teams that did not return were Miami, San Diego, Philadelphia, and New Orleans, which became the third team since 1970 to miss the play-offs after a 5–0 start.

The season was the NFL’s first with a collectively bargained system of unrestricted free agency, and the most prominent player to change teams was defensive end Reggie White, whose 13 sacks for Green Bay tied New Orleans’ Renaldo Turnbull for the NFC lead. Kansas City had two likely Hall of Famers who were cast off late in their careers, free-agent halfback Marcus Allen and traded quarterback Joe Montana. The 1994 season was to be the first with team salary caps tied to television revenues, and the caps were higher than anticipated after the Fox network outbid CBS by $25 million a year, leaving CBS without an NFL contract for the first time after 38 years.

NFL scoring, at 18.7 points per team per game, was the lowest since the 18.3 average in 1978, the last season before new rules made passing easier. San Francisco led the NFL with both 402.2 yd and 29.6 points per game and led the NFC in passing yards. Miami was the NFL leader with 272.1 yd passing per game and the AFC leader in total yardage.

The top defensive teams in the NFL were the Giants, allowing 12.8 points per game, and Minnesota, with an average yield of 275.3 yd. New Orleans allowed the fewest passing yards, 162.9 per game, and Houston had the best defense against the run, allowing an average of 79.6 yd per game, and the most pass interceptions, 26. Buffalo’s defense led the league with 24 fumble recoveries and 47 turnovers.

At the other extreme, Atlanta’s 24.1 points allowed per game were the NFL’s worst, and Cincinnati scored the fewest points, 11.7 per game. Chicago gained the fewest total and passing yards; Indianapolis gained the fewest rushing yards and gave up the most total and rushing yards; and San Diego gave up the most passing yards. Houston lost a league-high 45 turnovers.

San Francisco’s Steve Young (see BIOGRAPHIES) became the first NFL quarterback ever to lead the league in passing for three straight seasons with 101.5 rating points, which also made him the first to clear 100 three consecutive times. Young’s 29 touchdown passes and average gain of 8.71 yd per pass were league highs. Teammate Jerry Rice led the NFL with 1,503 yd receiving, a record eighth consecutive season with at least 1,000. Rice led the league with 16 touchdowns and tied Atlanta’s Andre Rison with 15 on pass receptions.

Troy Aikman’s completion percentage of .691 led the NFL, and his Dallas team threw a league-low six interceptions. Pittsburgh’s Neil O’Donnell had the NFL’s lowest interception rate, with seven for 1.4%. Denver’s John Elway led the AFC with a passer rating of 92.8 and the NFL with 4,030 yd passing. Vinny Testaverde’s 21-for-23 passing for Cleveland against the Los Angeles Rams set a single-game record for completion percentage at 91.3%.

Green Bay wide receiver Sterling Sharpe broke his own record with 112 catches, becoming the first to catch more than 100 in consecutive years. The Raiders’ James Jett averaged 23.4 yd per catch, the most for anyone with at least 30 catches.

Dallas’ Emmitt Smith was the fourth player ever to lead the league three consecutive years in rushing, with 1,486 yd. His 1,900 yd from scrimmage and 5.3 yd per carry also led the league. Marcus Allen led the NFL with 12 rushing touchdowns and the AFC with 15 total touchdowns. Buffalo’s Thurman Thomas led the AFC with 1,315 yd rushing and 1,702 yd from scrimmage. Neil Smith of Kansas City had the most sacks with 15.

Two kickers broke the record for consecutive field goals, first New Orleans’ Morten Anderson with 25 and then San Diego’s John Carney with 29. Raiders kicker Jeff Jaeger led the league with 132 points, two more than NFC leader Jason Hanson of Detroit. Pittsburgh’s Gary Anderson had the best field-goal percentage, .933 on 28 for 30. Greg Montgomery of Houston led punters with a 45.6-yd average. Tyrone Hughes of New Orleans had the best punt return average, 13.6 yd.

The NFL granted franchises for its expansion to 30 teams in 1995. The newcomers would be the Jacksonville (Fla.) Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers of Charlotte, N.C.

Canadian Football

The Edmonton Eskimos in 1993 won their 11th Canadian Football League (CFL) championship, and their first since 1987, when they defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 33-23 in the Grey Cup game at Calgary, Alta., on November 28. The game’s Most Valuable Player was Edmonton quarterback Damon Allen, whose brother, Marcus, was an NFL star.

Calgary quarterback Doug Flutie was the first player to win a Most Outstanding Player award for a third consecutive season. Defending champion Calgary had the league’s best regular-season record, 15-3, to win the Western Division but lost in the play-offs to Edmonton (12-6), the second-place Western team. In winning the Eastern Division, Winnipeg (14-4) was led by Most Outstanding Canadian David Sapunjis, the CFL receiving leader with a league-record 103 catches.

Flutie set a CFL record with 44 touchdown passes and led the league with a passer rating of 96.6, 416 completions, and 6,092 yd passing. The leading runners were Mike Richardson with 925 yd rushing for Winnipeg and Mike Oliphant with 1,572 yd from scrimmage for Sacramento, a new expansion franchise and the CFL’s first team in the United States.